Friday News And Views

Image courtesy of Pashley Bicycles

 Pashley Wildfinder: Another "Fargo-Like" Adventure Bike Introduced:

This past Tuesday word came out about Pashley, a UK bicycle brand, and their new Wildfinder adventure bicycle. Sporting a Reynolds 853 DZB frame, this bike is aimed at what Pashley says are "off-grid adventures".  

Featuring suspension corrected geometry for the addition of a suspension fork, this bike also has all the accessory mounts you may need for touring, bike packing, or adventures way off the main path. 

The Wildfinder has clearance for a 29" x 2.4" tire maximum. It is compatible and available with a few different geared drive trains but the Wildfinder has no single speed option native to the design. 

Prices start at $2,595.00 USD for a frame and fork. 

Comments: I find this bike to be a great idea which is probably better executed by others for less money. For instance, the original Adventure Bike, the Fargo, can be had as a frame and fork, (a carbon fork, by the way) at 1K.  Plus the Fargo, as well as others in this category, can handle much larger tires if so desired. The Fargo also is single speed capable in case of emergency, or if an IGH type hub is utilized. Another awesome bike in this category, the Tumbleweed Stargazer, is $1,300.00 for the frame and steel fork. 

I get most others are not using Reynolds tubing, but this is of such a minute relevance it seems silly to bring this up as a nit against other adventure bikes in the category of the Wildfinder. Great idea, a nice bike, but a bit pricey, in my opinion, for what you get.  

Logo courtesy of Life Time Fitness

"The 40"

In the early days of mountain biking one of the toughest parts concerning this, then new, activity for cyclists was finding proper venues to enjoy off-road cycling here in the Mid-West. Obviously, most of the land is put to use for agriculture, so forests and woodlands are few.

One of the earliest opportunities to engage in competitive, off-road riding in this part of the country was started in 1983 in Northwestern Wisconsin and was called the "Chequamegon Fat Tire 40". A local rider named Gary Crandall started the event by promoting it via local ski and bicycle shops and on various cork bulletin boards in grocery stores in his area. 

During the 1980's and early 90's, I used to go on a fishing trip to Northwestern Wisconsin with friends every year starting on Memorial Day Weekend. I recall being in a grocery store in Hayward, Wisconsin, waiting for my friends to check out with our supplies for the week. As I was waiting I scanned the bulletin board on the wall. Grocery stores in those days used to have these cork boards for people to post yard sales on, local services, business via business cards, and posters for upcoming events. Amongst all this chaos was a lined sheet torn from a spiral bound notebook with information on "The Chequamegon Fat Tire 40" with a pen dangling from a pinned string next to it. On this sheet you could write your name and phone number so Gary Crandall could call you and get you on the roster for the event. 

Can you believe that? Well, believe it, because this is how "grassroots" this event used to be. Maybe I saw the first sign up sheet for this event. It had to be one of the first years the event took place, at any rate. They had 27 riders at that first Fat Tire 40, and today Life Time expects a field of over 1,700 riders in "The 40" with another approximately 800 in the "Short and Fat" event, which is a shorter distance. 

My belief is "The 40" kind of represents what happened to gravel events. Say what you will about the event itself, or the course, (many would say the Fat Tire 40 is essentially a "gravel race" anyway), but it is easy to draw parallels to another Life Time event called "Unbound". The 40 has been around over 40 years now and shows no signs of disappearing. Maybe gravel events have a similar trajectory? 

Maybe...

Image courtesy of Fulcrum Wheels

Fulcrum Wheels Announce New, More Affordable Aero Wheel Set:

On Wednesday news came down concerning a new aero wheel set from Fulcrum. Their new Sonq 42 wheels employ the radical "shark tooth" profile which is said to lend more stability in cross-winds. This variable rim height also acts like a deeper section wheel would in calmer air, or in tailwinds/headwinds.  

The section is called "mid-profile" by Fulcrum and amounts to a 42mm height varying to 45mm height along the rim profile. Other features include 24 rounded spokes in each wheel, a 25mm inner rim width, and a claimed tire width compatibility from 29mm to 76mm (!!!) 

Offered in several free hub combinations in 100mm/142mm through axle configuration only at  approximately $1,855.00 USD. 

Comments: The tire width compatibility is laughable. 76 mm is approximately 3 inches, in case you were wondering. Yeah..... That's insane. But otherwise I can see these being on a serious gravel racing set up, or for anyone who rides in windier conditions on the regular. By the way, the sub-1600 gram weight for the pair is not bad, considering the price and size of the rims here.  Probably not a climber's wheel set, but on the plains of the Mid-West, I can see these doing well. 

Maybe more competition will bring the prices down, and perhaps we will see even more aero wheel offerings for gravel in the near future. I still think this is a severely overlooked asset for gravel riding by many gravel riders.  

New Episode Of The Guitar Ted Podcast:

If you have not heard the latest episode of the podcast, the link to Spotify is HERE. You can also find us on Apple Podcasts, and most other podcasting platforms. We appreciate it when you listen!

This latest episode was a fun one for me. N.Y. Roll and I ramble on about several subjects. One in particular I wanted to touch upon here. 

The subject of muddy dirt roads seems to crop up every year lately. Some big gravel event will have a rain event, then the following day, or on following days, an event with muddy roads. Then the typical complaining and grousing about why muddy roads have to be a part of any gravel event. Complaints about "ruined races" or damaged equipment are often seen and heard.

Most gravel racers at the "pointy end" of things are what? Thirty years of age or younger? Let's say the average age is 30. Well, there are 2/3rds of their years with gravel racing history knowledge at their disposal. All VERY public, and VERY accessible. Finding out about "muddy dirt roads" is easy to do. So......who is at fault for a lack of knowledge? 

My mind is boggled by the lack of historical knowledge displayed by most top-flite gravel Pros and semi-Pros. They often seem to be oblivious to any sort of practical decision making skills when presented with difficulties like a muddy dirt road. They definitely often do not know these sorts of roads have featured in gravel events since the beginning of the Modern Gravel era.

Two decades worth of historical information on your specific sport is a treasure trove of information with which one could use to their advantage, but we'd rather obsess over tire widths and aero frames. None of this matters when you come across a muddy dirt road. 

I hope promoters don't cow-tow to the desires of pampered gravel Pros and take these roads out of events in the future. If this does happen, and those types of roads cease to exist in gravel racing, then it will be just one more step toward the road-ification of gravel racing. 

Have a great weekend! Get out there and ride those bicycles!